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The Utena movie reminded me a lot of "Jacob's
Ladder", actually (for those who haven't seen it,
it's the one with Tim Robbins as the hallucinating
Vietnam vet). Both take place in a surreal
"otherworld" - a false reality, that is stripped
away at the end to reveal the "true reality".
Both contain verbal hint-dropping (JL - "according
to this, you're already dead", Utena - "If a chick's
shell is not broken, it will die without ever
having hatched") and antagonistic characters who
can be seen as "hiding" the truth from our
protagonist. Jacob Singer is a bit like Anthy; he
wants to remain, safe in his fantasy world, but
outside forces will not let him/her.
I think what makes them ultimately so different
from each other is the philosophy behind each film;
I see JL as being told from a Zen Buddhist
perspective, the Utena movie a Gnostic one. Utena
"storms heaven", breaking into the true world and
transcending the Underworld beneath it, while Jacob
lets go of the physical world in order to reach a
higher plane of enlightenment. Now, I'm no scholar
of religion, so I may be wrong... and Utena is
perhaps too metaphorical to be taken this
seriously ;) Still, it's a thought.